hay or Haylage

[Holidays_are_coming]

Does anyone know which is better for weight gain, Very good quality no dust hay, or good haylage?

Thanks

 

[Puppy]

Haylage. Which is why I'm not letting one of mine having it this year, as she's out of work.

 

[My_chestnut_mare]

what puppy says.

Ive got mine on it just now. I havent got much grass

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

Thanks my friend was wondering, but can it make horses excitable?

 

[hadfos]

My lad has always had ad lib hay and looked good,he was on ad lib haylage last yr(due to bad hay crop and he was coughing) and looked fab

!
To start with my lad pigged the haylage,so put it in a haylage net,after a couple of wks it was the norm so he started leaving a little,i then put it to the floor as i dont like haynets

,his haylage was lasting as long as the others hay

,he settled to eating it and would only eat what he needed

,as in if i went slightly over it was left in the morning

He even chose a haynet rather than a haylage net,lol!!
I fed it as on balnace it works out same price wise,sometimes cheaper

 

[TicTac]

There are different grades of haylage. My gelding gets a bit fizzy on it but my mare doesn't. Try and go for a high fibre one.

 

[hadfos]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks my friend was wondering, but can it make horses excitable?

[/ QUOTE ]
Some yes it can,but depends on the grade you feed!Nothing affects my lad

Trial and error!

 

[My_chestnut_mare]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks my friend was wondering, but can it make horses excitable?

[/ QUOTE ]

If it is to rich it can also trigger laminitis i think i could be wrong but someone will probably say.

 

[TGM]

Hay and haylage vary in their calorie content according to the type of grass they are made from and the time of year they were cut. Usually, haylage is higher in calories than hay of the same grass type and harvest time because the wrapping process helps retain the nutrients, whereas some can be lost in the drying and storage process of hay-making.

However, it could be possible for a really good early-cut hay to be higher in calories than a poor late-cut haylage - you can really only tell by having an analysis done. Dodson & Horrell do a cheap forage analysis service.

If you feed by weight then do take into account the moisture content of haylage - you need to feed more haylage by WEIGHT than hay, although the VOLUME will be about the same. However, if you are feeding for weight gain then you should be feeding ad lib anyway, so shouldn't be an issue.

Another advantage of haylage is that a lot of horses find it tastier than hay so will eat more of it too, which can be helpful if they are not big hay eaters.

 

[kellyeaton]

haylege!